Fresh crabs and other shellfish are among the most perishable of all foods. They die quickly once they've left the water, and spoil just as quickly once they've died. For that reason, crabs are often cooked and blast-frozen on large shipping boats immediately after the catch, in the interest of freshness.
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There are several starch-based thickeners available to cooks and bakers, including arrowroot, potato starch, rice starch, tapioca, cornstarch and flour. The latter two are the most widely used in America, and both are versatile thickeners.
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If you are in the habit of maintaining an emergency stockpile of chocolate for stressful days, you may occasionally find that some of your supply has become outdated. This raises the obvious question of whether you can still eat the chocolate, especially if it's all you have left and you really, really need some.
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Firm resolutions notwithstanding, you probably haven't cleaned out your kitchen cupboards as recently as you'd like. The back corners doubtless conceal a number of things you don't remember buying, or perhaps can't even identify.
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For those who love seafood, frozen lobster tails are a great convenience. They don't take up a lot of space in the freezer, they keep well for several months and they're a quick way to make your meals more memorable.
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Although lamb is pricey in most parts of the country, a few overlooked cuts still offer good value. One is lamb flaps, known more formally as breast of lamb. It's the portion of the animal's chest that contains the gristly ends of the ribs, trimmed away when the butcher cuts racks and rib chops.
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Defining the "best" of anything is a tricky proposition. When it comes to roast beef, for example, the most common cuts are very different. The one that's best for you at any given meal is the one that meets your needs.
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Farm-raised venison is an easy meat to like, a lean and flavorful alternative to beef that can be cooked in much the same way. Wild venison is more problematic, in part because it's often tough and can have a strong, gamy flavor.
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An unfamiliar ingredient to most home bakers, lecithin is widely used in commercial baking. It's an emulsifier, an ingredient that helps other ingredients to mix more easily and remain mixed. Bakeries add lecithin to bread and other baked goods to improve doughs and batters, or to keep them from staling.
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Almost anyone can manage to grill a decent steak or hamburger, but cooking chicken on the barbecue is more problematic. All too often it's overcooked and stringy, or charred on the outside but still raw at the bone.
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Cooking fish in a sealed, airtight pouch is one of the easiest and healthiest preparation methods. Referred to as cooking "en papillote" -- the French term for the technique -- it usually calls for wrapping the fish in a parchment parcel and baking it in the oven.
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A thick slice of center-cut beef shank looks remarkably like a well-marbled steak, and is often labeled as shank steak in retail stores. They're too tough for grilling, but like chuck steaks, they're ideal for braising.
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Shoulder cuts of pork are used for a number of preparations, from fork-tender pulled pork to ham-like smoked shoulders. One unusual form of pork shoulder is the so-called "cottage roll," common in Canada and Britain but seldom seen in American meat cases.
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Although popcorn is the world champion, some other grains and pseudograins -- such as quinoa -- can be popped or puffed to lighten their texture. You won't get the huge puffy kernels you see in commercial cereal, which are created in a vacuum, but puffing gives an interestingly different texture.
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A well-roasted duck breast offers your palate a remarkably appealing combination of flavors and textures. The meat itself is dark, lean and flavorful, while the golden skin provides a crisp and richer complement.
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Cooking very tough meats, such as lamb shank, involves some compromises. You'll earn the richest mouthfeel and tenderest texture by slow-cooking them at very low temperatures, either dry or in a flavorful liquid. Yet, the most savory flavors come from high-temperature cooking methods such as grilling.
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Venison is a lean and well-flavored meat, much lower in saturated fats than mainstream alternatives such as beef and lamb. That makes it a fine choice for grilling or slow-cooking, but venison alone is too lean to make a decent sausage.
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Meats have traditionally been roasted at relatively high temperatures, ranging from a moderate 350 degrees Fahrenheit, to well over 400 F for especially small or tender cuts such as pork tenderloins. Tougher and fattier cuts, such as the shoulder, benefit from long and slower cooking at relatively low temperatures.
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Countertop slow-cookers are an unusually convenient way to prepare meals. Their slow, gentle cooking can tame even the toughest cuts of meat, and allow aromatic sausages and cured meats to infuse their flavors into the rest of the dish.
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Just about the only thing better than a ripe, fresh, juicy apple is that same apple and a few of its friends baked into a pie. Of course, much of that fresh juice will cook out of the apples as your pie bakes and will need to be thickened to prevent the pie from boiling over or developing a soggy crust.
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